Cat enclosures (catios) provide safe outdoor access without the risks of free-roaming. Understanding design principles helps owners create welfare-positive outdoor spaces.
Catios represent an effective compromise in the indoor-outdoor debate — providing the sensory enrichment, exercise, and natural behaviour expression of outdoor access while eliminating the mortality and wildlife predation risks of free roaming. Cats in catios can observe wildlife, feel wind and sunshine, explore novel smells, and engage in natural stalking behaviour without the dangers of road traffic, disease exposure, or predation. The welfare benefit is real and measurable — access to outdoor stimulation reduces indoor-only stress indicators. For cats that have experienced outdoor access and are difficult to confine indoors, catios provide a welfare-sensitive management solution. They also protect the billions of wild animals killed annually by free-roaming cats.